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Thunder rout weary Golden State 119-98

February 07, 2013, 05:00 AM The Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY — A fog-delayed arrival in Oklahoma City made Golden State’s task tough enough.

Then the Warriors made the mistake of getting on Kevin Martin’s bad side.

Kevin Durant scored 25 points and Martin roared to life with 10 points during a fourth-quarter run that put away the Thunder’s 119-98 win on Wednesday night.

Martin hit a pair of 3-pointers, a runner and slammed home a two-handed dunk during a 16-4 fourth-quarter spurt that pushed the lead to 106-83 and coaxed coach Scott Brooks into emptying his bench instead of going back to All-Stars Russell Westbrook and Durant down the stretch. Warriors coach Mark Jackson soon followed suit.

"Coach Jackson should talk to a couple of his bench players and make sure they get wet behind the ears before they come barking at a couple of our players,” said Martin, who went 4 for 5 in the final period and ended up with 21 points.

Playing on the second night of a back-to-back, the Warriors didn’t get settled in Oklahoma City until almost daybreak and it showed as they fell behind by 20 early. Martin refused to say specifically who got him riled up to finally squash Golden State’s chances for a comeback.

"You’ve got to take it personal, what they did,” Martin said. "It wasn’t only talking trash. They made a couple of dirty plays to inspire us as a team.”

Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson had 19 points apiece for the Warriors. Golden State played without Andrew Bogut, who is still easing his way back from a left ankle injury, and Jarrett Jack was sidelined by a right shoulder contusion.

Fog kept the Warriors from arriving in Oklahoma City after their 140-109 loss at Houston on Tuesday night, and the team plane ended up landing about 100 miles away in Tulsa instead. The team buses were still in Oklahoma City, though.

Some players took taxis and others waited for the buses to come get them. It was around 4:30 a.m. by the time they got to the hotel.

"It definitely throws your routine off, especially on a back-to-back,” Stephen Curry said. "On game day, you can’t really think about it, about that being a crutch for you. Just try to overcome it as much as possible.

"I don’t know if our energy was a problem. I think it was just a lack of focus at the beginning.”

Oklahoma City opened a 42-22 lead after scoring the first eight points of the second quarter — with four each from Martin and Nick Collison. The Thunder shot a blazing 60 percent over the first quarter and a half, getting easy buckets against the ragged Warriors and building a 28-10 scoring advantage in the paint and a 53-31 lead.

Golden State clawed back to cut the deficit to 75-63 after David Lee’s two-handed dunk with 7:19 left in the third quarter and was as close as 11 to start the final period before Oklahoma City put it away with a lineup featuring Serge Ibaka, Thabo Sefolosha and three reserves — most notably Martin.

Durant said he thought Martin got upset when he was fouled and shoved out of bounds.

"I wouldn’t say they were too dirty but they were playing us physical, and you don’t ever want to shy away from a physical game,” Durant said. "I think K-Mart did a really good job of getting mad and getting into a zone.

"He can get hot pretty quickly, and that’s what busted the game open for us in the fourth quarter.”

The big lead allowed Brooks to go without Durant or Westbrook in the fourth quarter for the second straight game.

"Any time you’re sitting over there to start the fourth for the rest of the game, it’s a good game,” Durant said.

Westbrook finished with 22 points and Ibaka had 15 points, nine rebounds and a career-high four assists for Oklahoma City, which won consecutive games for the first time in nearly three weeks after alternating wins and losses for the previous nine games.

Curry had 14 points and 11 assists, and Lee had 12 points and 11 rebounds, but the duo also combined for 10 of the Warriors’ 19 turnovers.

"I thought we played well in spurts but you give up 64 points in the paint and 29 points off turnovers, that’s a recipe for disaster coming into this building against this team,” Jackson said.

Notes: Reggie Jackson had a career-high 12 points off the bench for Oklahoma City. ... Golden State dropped to 8-5 in the second game of back-to-back sets this season. ... A night after Houston tied the NBA record with 23 3-pointers against the Warriors, Oklahoma City went 8 for 23 from behind the arc. Golden State was 10 for 20. ... DeAndre Liggins sprained his left ankle late in the game and is considered day-to-day.